Torbjørn Gaarder was a Norwegian chemist. He has been called "a pioneer of biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

 in Norway".

He was born in Kristiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, took the dr.philos. degree and studied biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

 and physiology

Physiology

Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...

 in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He was appointed professor at Bergen Museum

Bergen Museum

The Bergen Museum is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. Founded in 1825 with the intent of building large collections in the fields of culture and natural history, it became the grounds for most of the academic activity in the city, a tradition which has prevailed since the museum became part...

 in 1931, and served at the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

 from 1948 to 1955. He was also editor-in-chief of the periodical Naturen

Naturen

Naturen is a Norwegian periodical.Naturen was started in 1877, and connected to the University of Bergen. It has a popular science approach to the natural sciences, including medicine....

between 1925 and 1946, succeeding Jens Holmboe

Jens Holmboe (botanist)

Jens Holmboe was a Norwegian botanist.He was the oldest son of physician Michael Holmboe and his wife Eleonore Vogt . He had several brothers and sisters. His grandfather of the same name was a prominent politician....

.